The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 opened higher on September 29 as chip stocks rebounded from the prior session's selloff and oil prices retreated. Nvidia's expanded $150 billion buyback anchored the rally, even as Treasury yields held near two-decade highs.
The Nasdaq Composite bounced back on September 29 after the prior day's selloff, with semiconductor stocks driving most of the gains. Nasdaq-100 futures climbed between 0.2% and 0.4% in early trading, a modest reversal after the index shed nearly a full percentage point the session before.
Chip stocks lead the rebound
A September 28 close of 26,820.38 marked a 248-point drop, or 0.92%, driven largely by rising bond yields and a broad tech selloff. Micron Technology, Broadcom, and AMD all saw elevated trading volumes as investors rotated back into semiconductors.
Nvidia led the charge after it announced a $150 billion increase to its share repurchase program. Buybacks reduce the number of shares outstanding, which tends to push earnings per share higher even if the underlying business stays flat. Just a week earlier, on September 22, the Nasdaq had hit a record close of 27,244.28, so the pullback that followed looked more like profit-taking than any deterioration in the chip sector's outlook.
Oil retreat and Anthropic optimism add fuel
At the open, the S&P 500 rose 15.9 points, or 0.21%, to 7,699.6. The Nasdaq Composite added 84.22 points, or 0.31%, to 26,904.60, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 64.6 points, or 0.13%, to 51,416.96 at the same open.
Reuters attributed the gains to a pullback in oil prices, along with media reports on the details of Anthropic's public offering, which bolstered sentiment toward technology stocks. Brent crude shed more than 1% to trade around $103.97 per barrel, while WTI slid 1.7% to $90.99.
Yields stay elevated
However, the rally came with a caveat. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to approximately 5.26%, a level not seen in roughly 19 years, before easing slightly. Higher yields make risk assets less attractive by simple math: when investors can earn north of 5% on government bonds, the premium they demand for holding volatile tech stocks goes up.
For the broader Nasdaq, the resilience of chip stocks matters disproportionately, since semiconductor companies carry outsized weight in the index and can swing the composite in either direction.
Sources: Crypto Briefing, Investing.com, CNBC
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